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For the Islamic Federation, the Navy is the more prestigious service, but the Army is more important. In order to rein in the army's political power, the Sultanate has divided it into the Fedayeen, Regular Army (including Guards formations), and Militia. The units described here are infantry formations, in keeping with the focus of StarGrunt; more specific listings of weapons, quality, etc, are found at the StarGrunt TO page.

The Fedayeen are the Islamic Federation's equivalent of Spetsnaz commandos. They are lightly armed but highly trained and ferociously loyal. The Fedayeen are tasked with long range reconaissance, raids, and other special forces missions. In addition to the ground-based forces presented here, there are also drop-troop strikers and zero-gee units. The notorious "death commandos" are drawn from the ranks of the Fedayeen.

The most common Regular Army unit is the independent infantry bridge--"independent" meaning that it is expected to operate on its own and therefore has support units which would ordinarily be provided at the divisional level. Additional assets, such as an aviation battalion, may be attached from the corps or planetary defense echelon. This unit is assigned to defend areas for which a militia unit is deemed insufficient, either because the target is specially valuable or because the threat of attack is high. The best and most reliable Regular units are upgraded to Guards status. There are presently two Guards armored corps stationed on Earth, and a third based on Arabiyah Jadid. A Guards mech infantry brigade is similar to the Regular brigade, but with a tank regiment and artillery regiment, each of two battalions. The Guards also have better equipment overall--for example, all Guards infantry units have their full complement of IFVs, while many regular units have to fill in with a few trucks.

On the colony worlds, the main unit is the Militia brigade. Districts, depending on their population, may not be able to constitute a brigade-sized militia force; many districts have, at most, a battalion. Regardless of the unit size, every village and town has a militia formation, manned at need by the workers and peasants, older reservists, medically-retired soldiers and young men not old enough for regular service. The militia could receive additional combat support assets from higher echelons, but this would be extremely rare.

IF regular infantry is issued with camouflage fatigues suitable for the local vegetation and climate, the most widely used being the "Leopard" pattern of khaki with black-rimmed tan spots. Their oversized helmets contain sensor gear and a pull-down hood which seals at the collar. The hood is proof against NBC contamination but is more commonly used to protect against dust, sand, and insects. IF body armor consists of ceramic on a woven aramid substrate; it is sometimes painted, but often left in the original light brown. Guards units wear the same uniform in the field, but on parade, Guards officers have black uniforms and enlisted wear a black keffiyah. Fedayeen battledress carries is pale grey with a mottled brown and black pattern. Most militia units make do with plain kakhi, although the wealthier amirates may add partial body armor.



(some unit listings include O and E for total numbers of Officers and Enlisted)

Fedayeen Commando Battalion

Independent Infantry Brigade, Regular Army

Militia Brigade